Foundation (Foundation Future Industries)

Builds the Phantom humanoid for defense and industrial logistics, with US DoD contracts

Startup · Pilot · Humanoid startup · San Francisco, California, United States · Founded 2024 · foundation.bot

Unverified Low-confidence record. Funding history is inconsistent across sources (one tracker reports a $187M Series A at $1.32B in Aug 2025; others ~$21M total). Omitted until a primary source is available. Source dates approximate.

Profile

Foundation, started by former Synapse CEO Sankaet Pathak, positions its Phantom humanoid for defense and industrial work. It has reported about $24M in US Department of Defense contracts. In 2026 it was reported to be seeking up to $500M at a valuation above $3B.

Leadership

• Sankaet Pathak, Co-founder & CEO

Flagship robots

• Phantom Humanoid
  Humanoid for military logistics, reconnaissance and inspection

Competitors

Companies with overlapping products. Direct = same customers and same job; Adjacent = overlapping technology or market, different focus.

• Persona AI

  Adjacent competitor

  USHumanoid startup

  Both pitch humanoids for rugged industrial and defense-adjacent work: Persona AI is building rugged humanoids for shipyards and heavy industry, while Foundation builds the Phantom humanoid for defense and industrial work.

  Sources (2)

  • Foundation (Foundation Future Industries) (company website)
  • Persona AI (company website)

• Genki Robotics

  Adjacent competitor

  JPHumanoid startup

  Both pitch humanoids for public-safety and defense-type work: Genki Robotics builds humanoids for public-safety and urban-maintenance work, while Foundation builds the Phantom humanoid for defense and industrial work.

  Sources (2)

  • Foundation (Foundation Future Industries) (company website)
  • Genki Robotics (company website)

• Minerva Humanoids

  Adjacent competitor

  USHumanoid startup

  Both pitch humanoids for dangerous work: Minerva Humanoids is building semi-autonomous humanoids for hazardous jobs such as bomb disposal, while Foundation builds the Phantom humanoid for defense and industrial work.

  Sources (2)

  • Foundation (Foundation Future Industries) (company website)
  • Minerva Humanoids emerges from stealth with $10M pre-seed (GlobeNewswire)

Recent news

• Jun 1, 2026 — Profile of Foundation's $24M Pentagon work and Phantom capabilities Biped.News
• May 1, 2026 — Foundation seeks up to $500M at >$3B valuation (reported) Newcomer Reported

Sources

• Pentagon gave a startup $24M for humanoid robot soldiers (Biped.News) (Jun 1, 2026)
• Foundation Future seeks $3 billion valuation (Newcomer) (May 1, 2026)

Confidence: low.

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